


What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

by Roxy206



Series: The Holiday Collection [2]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxy206/pseuds/Roxy206
Summary: Some NYE Brio fluff:He had thought he was playing a losing game... Now that he had her he wasn’t going to let her slip away.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: The Holiday Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080740
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61





	What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

**Author's Note:**

> If you're looking for a music suggestion, I wrote the majority of this listening to Norah Jones with a heavy rotation of The Nearness of You.

There were toys & electronics strewn about every corner of the house. The day before the kids had ripped through wrapping paper in warp speed, no longer at the age where they wanted to play with each toy as they opened it. Instead they raced through, taking inventory as they went & deciding which gift was the best out of their haul before settling in with it. Their faces were still full of excitement, even if she had to have a hushed conversation with Kenny about not ruining Santa for his siblings. 

After Dean picked up the kids she had decided to leave the house in chaos. It almost made it seem like they were still there. She still missed them every time they stayed with their dad, but she reminded herself that she knew when they were coming back. It wasn't like the time he had taken them to his mom's house. This was planned, scheduled. 

So she had poured herself a drink - a single finger of bourbon - & drew herself a bath. As she soaked in the tub she ran her hand along the gold chain on her neck, fondling the "E" charm. She knew Annie & Ruby had noticed it on Christmas Eve & it was a gift that neither of them had pressed her for information. She wasn't ready to talk about it, still not really sure what there was to say. 

In the morning light, a second cup of coffee in her hand, she surveyed the house & mentally made a list of everything she needed to do. She wondered if subconsciously she had left the house in disarray so that she could fill her day, keeping her mind busy as she ticked off tasks. Her stomach fluttered as she replayed Rio's words, "Dinner Saturday?" 

There had been a shift in their behavior. A flurry of text exchanges, each one making her smile. She felt giddy & she wanted to hold onto that feeling rather than letting the nervousness creep in. She set down her mug & got to work cleaning & organizing. 

+++ 

Hours later, the house immaculate & the sky long dark, the doorbell rang. He stood on her doorstep, his car in the driveway. She had half expected him to show up unannounced in the kitchen, but this was a welcome departure. She softly said "hi" before inviting him in. 

"I'm almost ready," she told him as she gestured toward the living room. 

He took in the bathrobe belted around her waist, her slippered feet, & nodded. "Okay."

"Five minutes, I swear." She laughed. "You're early!" 

Almost true to her word, six minutes later he heard the sound of her heels on the hardwood floor. She turned the corner with the hem of her black dress fluttering around her knees. The neckline plunged in a way that made him want to bring her back to her bedroom & undo the process she had just gone through. Then his eyes crept up & a smile flashed across his face. 

He helped her into her coat, held the car door open for her. After handing his keys to the valet he placed a hand on the small of her back while walking into the restaurant. He had reserved a small private room in the back, not wanting to share her with anyone now that he had the opportunity to take her out. 

Reaching across the table he took her hand in his. She smiled, looking at their connected hands & then up at him. He felt an immense sense of relief at not having to hold back any longer. This wasn't trying to hold her hand under a table, meeting her at a bar that no one in her circle would go to, sneaking around when the chance presented itself. No, this was something real. 

And he was damn glad of it. He had thought he was playing a losing game he way he had pined over her even though it seemed like she didn’t want a relationship with him. He would try to dismiss her from his mind, but he was unsuccessful every time. Now that he had her he wasn’t going to let her slip away. 

"What are you doing on New Year's Eve?" he asked her. 

+++ 

She had spent the day filling the otherwise quiet house with music. It played on softly in the background as she set the final touches out on the coffee table. 

It scared the hell out of her when she looked up to see that he had strolled into the house like he owned it. She might as well give him a key, she thought, although it was a bit too soon for that. There was a bottle of champagne in his hand & he took the liberty of putting it in the ice bucket she had set out. 

In two steps she was at his side. His arms wrapped around her, hands cold from the frigid temperature outside while the rest of him was warm against her. Maybe she should have made him mittens. She almost laughed at the thought of seeing him in a pair. Then his lips were against her cheek, against the side of her mouth, & she certainly wasn't laughing. 

His lips were on hers like a whispered promise of what the night held for them. Her arms circled around his neck. He began to sway in time with the music. 

"Are you dancing with me?" she asked him. 

"You don't know me," he quipped. 

She let one hand drift into his hair, her nails gently raking his scalp. "I think we could be something," she said, her voice serious. 

He held her tighter, looking down into her eyes. "I love you," he told her. 

"I love you, too," she responded. 

He pressed his forehead against hers, a smile wide across his face. 

It crossed her mind that this should feel fast, but it didn't. This part had been anything but fast, really. It had been building, but she had tried to dismiss it for so long. 

At first it had been easy to write it off as a release, a way to feed her starving body. When she was craving him she could tell herself it was because he was good; they were good. But in the back of her mind she knew. It was the jealousy at the thought of him seeing someone else. It was wanting him to want her back. It was not wanting to stay away or keep things professional when she knew that was the safe choice. 

She was done with safe choices, had been for a while. What got her was the feeling that despite everything, despite the way it looked on paper, it didn't seem that reckless. 

She had known that he had fallen first, she could tell when he looked at her. If anything that was what had scared her. She could deal with the funny money, the pills, even the guns depending on the day. Putting her heart out on the line again had terrified her though. She had been wrecked, devastated when she found out that Dean was cheating on her. Her heart had been broken. At first the thought of another potential heartbreak was enough for her to try to keep things casual. So they didn’t define it, they didn’t talk about it. But that hadn't worked for long. It was entirely different than it had been with Dean, because she had fallen for Rio too & she had fallen hard. 

Maybe it should be a warning sign, the fact that she was so invested in him. The potential was there for them to completely annihilate each other if things went wrong. When she realized that she knew it was worth it, because she would never feel this way about anyone else. She knew that it might be messy sometimes, but she was willing to work for it. He hadn’t owed her anything, yet time & again he stuck his neck out for her, possibly more than she realized. Probably more than she realized. They owed it to each other to go all in. They owed it to themselves. 

Her lips tilted up toward his, needing to show him how she felt those words. 

She had something to tell Annie & Ruby now. 

+++ 

They sat together on the couch, the TV on in the background with New Year's coverage on. It was just shy of midnight & they had poured the dregs of a second bottle of champagne into their glasses so they had something for a toast. 

As the countdown on the screen moved into the last minute she went to reach for the champagne flutes, but he caught her hand. She turned toward him as he laced his fingers with hers. 

"We're going to miss the countdown," she told him. 

"Oh, I had other plans for ringing in the new year," he said, his mouth tugged up in a grin. 

"Oh," she said, her voice breathy. 

He brushed the hair along the side of her face before he leaned into her, capturing her lip. 

Both of their phones buzzed on the coffee table, wishes of a happy new year going unnoticed as she deepened the kiss. The champagne made her head feel light, her mind relaxed. His touch spread through her, making it feel like her body was buzzing, drunk in its own way on him. 

It was a hell of a way to start the new year. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! Here's to 2021 - may it bring us all more Brio in fanfic & also in canon!


End file.
